“This will prove a brave
kingdom to me;
Where I shall have my music,
for nothing.”
Tempest.
During the time past in the secret
conference of the cabin, Ludlow and the Patroon were
held in discourse on the quarter-deck, by the hero
of the India-shawl. The dialogue was professional,
as Van Staats maintained his ancient reputation for
taciturnity. The appearance of Myndert, thoughtful,
disappointed, and most evidently perplexed, caused
the ideas of all to take a new direction. It
is probable that the burgher believed he had not yet
bid enough to tempt the free-trader to restore his
niece; for, by his air, it was apparent his mind was
far from being satisfied that she was not in the vessel.
Still, when questioned by his companions concerning
the result of his interview with the free-trader,
for reasons best understood by himself, he was fain
to answer evasively.
“Of one thing rest satisfied,”
he said; “the misconception in this affair will
yet be explained, and Alida Barberie return unfettered,
and with a character as free from blemish as the credit
of the Van Stoppers of Holland. The fanciful-looking
person in the cabin denies that my niece is here,
and I am inclined to think the balance of truth is
on his side I confess, if one could just look into
the cabins, without the trouble of rummaging lockers
and cargo, the statement would give more satisfaction;
but hem gentlemen, we must take
the assertion on credit, for want of more sufficient
security.”
Ludlow looked at the cloud above the
mouth of the Raritan, and his lip curled in a haughty
smile.
“Let the wind hold here, at
east,” he said, “and we shall act our
pleasure, with both lockers and cabins.”
“Hist! the worthy Master Tiller
may overhear this threat and, after all,
I do not know whether prudence does not tell us, to
let the brigantine depart.”
“Mr. Alderman Van Beverout,”
rejoined the Captain, whose cheek had reddened to
a glow, “my duty must not be gauged by your affection
for your niece. Though content that Alida Barberie
should quit the country, like an article of vulgar
commerce, the commander of this vessel must get a
passport of Her Majesty’s cruiser, ere she again
enter the high sea.”
“Wilt say as much to the sea-green
lady?” asked the mariner of the shawl, suddenly
appearing at his elbow.
The question was so unexpected and
so strange, that it caused an involuntary start; but,
recovering his recollection on the instant, the young
sailor haughtily replied
“Or to any other monster thou canst conjure!”
“We will take you at the word.
There is no more certain method of knowing the past
or the future, the quarter of the heavens from which
the winds are to come, or the season of the hurricanes,
than by putting a question to our mistress. She
who knows so much of hidden matters, may tell us what
you wish to know. We will have her called, by
the usual summons.”
Thus saving, the mariner of the shawl
gravely quitted his guests, and descended into the
inferior cabins of the vessel. It was but a moment,
before there arose sounds from some secret though not
distant quarter of the brigantine, that caused, in
some measure, both surprise and pleasure to Ludlow
and the Patroon. Their companion had his motives
for being insensible to either of these emotions.
After a short and rapid symphony,
a wind-instrument took up a wild strain, while a human
voice was again heard chanting to the music, words
which were so much involved by the composition of
the air, as to render it impossible to trace more
than that their burthen was a sort of mysterious incantation
of some ocean deity.
“Squeaking and flutes!”
grumbled Myndert, ere the last sounds were fairly
ended. “This is downright heathenish; and
a plain-dealing man, who does business above-board,
has good reason to wish himself honestly at church.
What have we to do with land-witches, or water-witches,
or any other witchcraft, that we stay in the brigantine,
now it is known that my niece is not to be found aboard
her; and, moreover, even admitting that we were disposed
to traffic, the craft has nothing in her that a man
of Manhattan should want. The deepest bog of
thy manor, Patroon, is safer ground to tread on, than
the deck of a vessel that has got a reputation like
that of this craft.”
The scenes of which he was a witness,
had produced a powerful effect on Van Staats of Kinderhook.
Of a slow imagination but of a powerful and vast frame,
he was not easily excited, either to indulge in fanciful
images, or to suffer personal apprehension. Only
a few years had passed since men, who in other respects
were enlightened, firmly believed in the existence
of supernatural agencies in the control of the affairs
of this life; and though the New-Netherlanders had
escaped the infatuation which prevailed so generally
in the religious provinces of New-England, a credulous
superstition, of a less active quality, possessed the
minds of the most intelligent of the Dutch colonists,
and even of their descendants so lately as in our
own times. The art of divination was particularly
in favor; and it rarely happened, that any inexplicable
event affected the fortunes or comforts of the good
provincialists, without their having recourse to some
one of the more renowned fortunetellers of the country,
for an explanation. Men of slow faculties love
strong excitement, because they are insensible to
less powerful impulses, as men of hard heads find
most enjoyment in strong liquors. The Patroon
was altogether of the sluggish cast; and to him there
was consequently a secret, but deep pleasure, in his
present situation.
“What important results may
flow from this adventure, we know not, Mr. Alderman
Van Beverout,” returned Oloff Van Staats; “and
I confess a desire to see and hear more, before we
land. This ‘Skimmer of the Seas’ is
altogether a different man from what our rumors in
the city have reported; and, by remaining, we may
set public opinion nearer to the truth. I have
heard my late venerable aunt ”
“Chimney-corners and traditions!
The good lady was no bad customer of these gentry,
Patroon; and it is lucky that they got no more of thy
inheritance, in the way of fees. You see the Lust
in Rust against the mountain there; well, all that
is meant for the public is on the outside, and all
that is intended for my own private gratification is
kept within-doors. But here is Captain Ludlow,
who has matters of the Queen on his hands, and the
gentleman will find it disloyal to waste the moments
in this juggling.”
“I confess the same desire to
witness the end,” dryly returned the commander
of the Coquette. “The state of the wind
prevents any immediate change in the positions of
the two vessels; and why not get a farther insight
into the extraordinary character of those who belong
to the brigantine?”
“Ay, there it is!” muttered
the Alderman between his teeth. “Your insights
and outsights lead to all the troubles of life.
One is never snug with these fantastics, which trifle
with a secret, like a fly fluttering round a candle,
until his wings get burnt.”
As his companions seemed resolved
to stay, however, there remained no alternative for
the burgher, but patience. Although apprehension
of some indiscreet exposure was certainly the feeling
uppermost in his mind, he was not entirely without
some of the weakness which caused Oloff Van Staats
to listen and to gaze with so much obvious interest
and secret awe. Even Ludlow, himself, felt more
affected than he would have willing owned, by the
extraordinary situation in which he was placed.
No man is entirely insensible to the influence of
sympathy, let it exert its power in what manner it
will. Of this the young sailor was the more conscious,
through the effect that was produced on himself, by
the grave exterior and attentive manner of all the
mariners of the brigantine. He was a seaman of
no mean accomplishments; and, among other attainments
that properly distinguish men of his profession, he
had learned to know the country of a sailor, by those
general and distinctive marks which form the principal
difference between men whose common pursuit has in
so great a degree created a common character.
Intelligence, at that day, was confined to narrow
limits among those who dwelt on the ocean. Even
the officer was but too apt to be one of rude and
boisterous manners, of limited acquirements and of
deep and obstinate prejudices. No wonder then,
that the common man was, in general, ignorant of most
of those opinions which gradually enlighten society.
Ludlow had seen, on entering the vessel, that her crew
was composed of men of different countries. Age
and personal character seemed to have been more consulted,
in their selection, than national distinctions.
There was a Finlander, with a credulous and oval physiognomy,
sturdy but short frame, and a light vacant eye; and
a dark-skinned seaman of the Mediterranean, whose
classical outline of feature was often disturbed by
uneasy and sensitive glances at the horizon.
These two men had come and placed themselves near the
group on the quarter-deck, when the last music was
heard; and Ludlow had ascribed the circumstance to
a sensibility to melody, when the child Zephyr stole
to their side, in a manner to show that more was meant
by the movement than was apparent in the action itself.
The appearance of Tiller, who invited the party to
re-enter the cabin, explained its meaning, by showing
that these men, like themselves, had business with
the being, who, it was pretended, had so great an
agency in controlling the fortunes of the brigantine.
The party, who now passed into the
little ante-room, was governed by very different sensations.
The curiosity of Ludlow was lively, fearless, and a
little mingled with an interest that might be termed
professional; while that of his two companions was
not without some inward reverence for the mysterious
power of the sorceress. The two seamen manifested
dull dependence, while the boy exhibited, in his ingenuous
and half-terrified countenance, most unequivocally
the influence of childish awe. The mariner of
the shawl was grave, silent, and, what was unusual
in his deportment, respectful. After a moment’s
delay, the door of the inner apartment was opened
by Seadrift himself, and he signed for the whole to
enter.
A material change had been made in
the arrangement of the principal cabin. The light
was entirely excluded from the stern, and the crimson
curtain had been lowered before the alcove. A
small window whose effect was to throw a dim obscurity
within, had been opened in the side. The objects
on which its light fell strongest, received a soft
coloring from the hues of the hangings.
The free-trader received his guests
with a chastened air, bowing silently, and with less
of levity in his mien than in the former interview.
Still Ludlow thought there lingered a forced but sad
smile about his handsome mouth; and the Patroon gazed
at his fine features, with the admiration that one
might feel for the most favored of those who were believed
to administer at some supernatural shrine. The
feelings of the Alderman were exhibited only by some
half-suppressed murmurs of discontent, that from time
to time escaped him, notwithstanding a certain degree
of reverence, that was gradually prevailing over his
ill-concealed dissatisfaction.
“They tell me, you would speak
with our mistress,” said the principal personage
of the vessel, in a subdued voice. “There
are others, too, it would seem, who wish to seek counsel
from her wisdom. It is now many months since
we have had direct converse with her, though the book
is ever open to all applicants for knowledge.
You have nerves for the meeting?”
“Her Majesty’s enemies
have never reproached me with their want,” returned
Ludlow, smiling incredulously. “Proceed
with your incantations, that we may know.”
“We are not necromancers, Sir,
but faithful mariners, who do their mistress’s
pleasure. I know that you are sceptical; but bolder
men have confessed their mistakes, with less testimony.
Hist! we are not alone. I hear the opening and
shutting of the brigantine’s transoms.”
The speaker then fell back nearly
to the line in which the others had arranged themselves,
and awaited the result in silence. The curtain
rose to a low air on the same wind-instrument; and
even Ludlow felt an emotion more powerful than interest,
as he gazed on the object that was revealed to view.
A female form, attired, as near as
might be, like the figure-head of the vessel, and
standing in a similar attitude, occupied the centre
of the alcove. As in the image, one hand held
a book with its page turned towards the spectators,
while a finger of the other pointed ahead, as if giving
to the brigantine its course. The sea-green drapery
was floating behind, as if it felt the influence of
the air; and the face had the same dark and unearthly
hue, with its malign and remarkable smile.
When the start and the first gaze
of astonishment were over, the Alderman and his companions
glanced their eyes at each other, in wonder. The
smile on the look of the free-trader became less hidden,
and it partook of triumph.
“If any here has aught to say
to the lady of our bark, let him now declare it.
She has come far, at our call, and will not tarry long.”
“I would then know,” said
Ludlow, drawing a heavy breath, like one recovering
from some sudden and powerful sensation, “if
she I seek be within the brigantine?”
He who acted the part of mediator
in this extraordinary ceremony, bowed and advanced
to the book, which, with an air of deep reverence,
he consulted, reading, or appearing to read, from
its pages.
“You are asked here, in return
for that you inquire, if she you seek is sought in
sincerity?”
Ludlow reddened; the manliness of
the profession to which he belonged, however, overcame
the reluctance natural to self-esteem; and he answered,
firmly
“She is.”
“But you are a mariner; men
of the sea place their affections, often, on the fabric
in which they dwell. Is the attachment for her
you seek, stronger than love of wandering, of your
ship your youthful expectations, and the glory that
forms a young soldier’s dreams?”
The commander of the Coquette hesitated.
After a moment of pause, like that of self-examination,
he said
“As much so, as may become a man.”
A cloud crossed the brow of his interrogator,
who advanced and again consulted the pages of the
book.
“You are required to say, if
a recent event has not disturbed your confidence in
her you seek?”
“Disturbed but not destroyed.”
The sea-green lady moved, and the
pages of the mysterious volume trembled, as if eager
to deliver their oracles.
“And could you repress curiosity,
pride, and all the other sentiments of your sex, and
seek her favor, without asking explanation, as before
the occurrence of late events?”
“I would do much to gain a kind
look from Alida de Barberie; but the degraded spirit,
of which you speak, would render me unworthy of her
esteem. If I found her as I lost her, my life
should be devoted to her happiness; and if not, to
mourning that one so fair should have fallen!”
“Have you ever felt jealousy?”
“First let me know if I have
cause?” cried the young man, advancing a step
towards the motionless form, with an evident intent
to look closer into its character.
The hand of the mariner of the shawl
arrested him, with the strength of a giant.
“None trespass on the respect
due our mistress,” coolly observed the vigorous
seaman, while he motioned to the other to retreat.
A fierce glance shot from his eye;
and then the recollection of his present helplessness
came, in season, to restrain the resentment of the
offended officer.
“Have you ever felt jealousy?”
continued his undisturbed interrogator.
“Would any love, that have not?”
A gentle respiration was heard in
the cabin, during the short pause that succeeded,
though none could tell whence it came. The Alderman
turned to regard the Patroon, as if he believed the
sigh was his while the startled Ludlow looked curiously
around him, at a loss to know who acknowledged, with
so much sensibility, the truth of his reply.
“Your answers are well,”
resumed the free-trader, after a pause longer than
usual. Then, turning to Oloff Van Staats, he said,
“Whom, or what, do you seek?”
“We come on a common errand.”
“And do you seek in all sincerity?”
“I could wish to find.”
“You are rich in lands and houses;
is she you seek, dear to you as this wealth?”
“I esteem them both, since one
could not wish to tie a woman he admired to beggary.”
The Alderman hemmed so loud as to
fill the cabin, and then, startled at his own interruption,
he involuntarily bowed an apology to the motionless
form in the alcove, and regained his composure.
“There is more of prudence than
of ardor in your answer. Have you ever felt jealousy?”
“That has he!” eagerly
exclaimed Myndert “I’ve known the gentleman
raving as a bear that has lost its cub, when my niece
has smiled, in church, for instance, though it were
only in answer to a nod from an old lady. Philosophy
and composure, Patroon! Who the devil knows, but
Alida may hear of this questioning? and
then her French blood will boil, to find that your
love has always gone as regularly as a town-clock.”
“Could you receive her, without
inquiring into past events?”
“That would he that
would he!” returned the Alderman. “I
answer for it, that Mr. Van Staats complies with all
engagements, as punctually as the best house in Amsterdam,
itself.”
The book again trembled, but it was
with a waving and dissatisfied motion.
“What is thy will with our mistress?”
demanded the free-trader, of the fair-haired sailor.
“I have bargained with some
of the dealers of my country, for a wind to carry
the brigantine through the inlet.”
“Go. The Water-Witch
will sail when there is need; and you?”
“I wish to know whether a few
skins I bought last night, for a private venture,
will turn to good account?”
“Trust the sea-green lady for
your profits. When did she ever let any fail,
in a bargain. Child, what has brought thee hither?”
The boy trembled, and a little time
elapsed before he found resolution to answer.
“They tell me it is so queer to be upon the
land!”
“Sirrah! thou hast been answered.
When others go, thou shalt go with them.”
“They say ’tis pleasant
to taste the fruits from off the very trees ”
“Thou art answered. Gentlemen,
our mistress departs. She knows that one among
you has threatened her favorite brigantine with the
anger of an earthly Queen; but it is beneath her office
to reply to threats so idle. Hark! her attendants
are in waiting!”
The wind-instrument was once more
heard, and the curtain slowly fell to its strains.
A sudden and violent noise, resembling the opening
and shutting of some massive door, succeeded and
then all was still. When the sorceress had disappeared,
the free-trader resumed his former ease of manner,
seeming to speak and act more naturally. Alderman
Van Beverout drew a long breath, like one relieved;
and even the mariner of the gay shawl stood in an
easier and more reckless attitude than while in her
presence. The two seamen and the child withdrew.
“Few who wear that livery have
ever before seen the lady of our brigantine,”
continued the free-trader, addressing himself to Ludlow;
“and it is proof that she has less aversion
to your cruiser, than she in common feels to most
of the long pennants that are abroad on the water.”
“Thy mistress, thy vessel, and
thyself, are alike amusing!” returned the young
seaman, again smiling incredulously, and with some
little official pride. “It will be well,
if you maintain this pleasantry much longer, at the
expense of Her Majesty’s customs.”
“We trust to the power of the
Water-Witch. She has adopted our brigantine as
her abode, given it her name, and guides it with her
hand. ’Twould be weak to doubt, when thus
protected.”
“There may be occasion to try
her virtues. Were she a spirit of the deep waters,
her robe would be blue. Nothing of a light draught
can escape the Coquette!”
“Dost not know that the color
of the sea differs in different climes? We fear
not, but you would have answers to your questions.
Honest Tiller will carry you all to the land, and,
in passing, the book may again be consulted.
I doubt not she will leave us some further memorial
of her visit.”
The free-trader then bowed, and retired
behind the curtain, with the air of a sovereign dismissing
his visiters from an audience; though his eye glanced
curiously behind him, as he disappeared, as if to trace
the effect which had been produced by the interview.
Alderman Van Beverout and his friends were in the
boat again, before a syllable was exchanged between
them. They had followed the mariner of the shawl,
in obedience to his signal; and they quitted the side
of the beautiful brigantine, like men who pondered
on what they had just witnessed.
Enough has been betrayed, in the course
of the narrative, perhaps, to show that Ludlow distrusted,
though he could not avoid wondering at, what he had
seen. He was not entirely free from the superstition
that was then so common among seamen; but his education
and native good sense enabled him, in a great measure,
to extricate his imagination from that love of the
marvellous, which is more or less common to all.
He had fifty conjectures concerning the meaning of
what had passed, and not one of them was true; though
each, at the instant, seemed to appease his curiosity,
while it quickened his resolution to pry further into
the affair. As for the Patroon of Kinderhook,
the present day was one of rare and unequalled pleasure.
He had all the gratification which strong excitement
can produce in slow natures; and he neither wished
a solution of his doubts, nor contemplated any investigation
that might destroy so agreeable an illusion.
His fancy was full of the dark countenance of the sorceress;
and when it did not dwell on a subject so unnatural,
it saw the handsome features, ambiguous smile, and
attractive air, of her scarcely less admirable minister.
As the boat got to a little distance
from the vessel, Tiller stood erect, and ran his eye
complacently over the perfection of her hull and rigging.
“Our mistress has equipped and
sent upon the wide and unbeaten sea, many a bark,”
he said; “but never a lovelier than our own! Captain
Ludlow, there has been some double-dealing between
us; but that which is to follow, shall depend on our
skill, seamanship, and the merits of the two crafts.
You serve Queen Anne, and I the sea-green lady.
Let each be true to his mistress, and Heaven preserve
the deserving! Wilt see the book, before
we make the trial?”
Ludlow intimated his assent, and the
boat approached the figure-head. It was impossible
to prevent the feeling, which each of our three adventurers,
not excepting the Alderman, felt when they came in
full view of the motionless image. The mysterious
countenance appeared endowed with thought, and the
malign smile seemed still more ironical than before.
“The first question was yours,
and yours must be the first answer,” said Tiller,
motioning for Ludlow to consult the page which was
open. “Our mistress deals chiefly in verses
from the old writer, whose thoughts are almost as
common to us all, as to human nature.”
“What means this?” said Ludlow, hastily
“She, Claudio, that you wrong’d,
look, you restore.
love her Angelo;
I have confess’d her, and I know her virtue.”
“These are plain words; but
I would rather that another priest should shrive her
whom I love!”
“Hist! Young blood
is swift and quickly heated. Our lady of the bark
will not relish hot speech, over her oracles. Come,
Master Patroon, turn the page with the rattan, and
see what fortune will give.”
Oloff Van Staats raised his powerful
arm, with the hesitation, and yet with the curiosity,
of a girl. It was easy to read in his eye, the
pleasure his heavy nature felt in the excitement; and
yet it was easy to detect the misgivings of an erroneous
education, by the seriousness of all the other members
of his countenance. He read aloud
“I have a motion much
imports your good;
Whereto, if you’ll a
willing ear incline
What’s mine is yours,
and what is yours is mine:
So bring us to our palace,
where we’ll show,
What’s yet behind, that’s
meet you all should know.”
Measure For Measure.
“Fair-dealing, and fairer speech!
’What’s yours is mine, and what is mine
is yours,’ is Measure for Measure, truly, Patroon!”
cried the Alderman. “A more equitable bargain
cannot be made, when the assets are of equal value.
Here is encouragement, in good sooth; and now, Master
Mariner, we will land and proceed to the Lust in Rust,
which must be the place meant in the verses.
‘What’s yet behind,’ must be Alida,
the tormenting baggage! who has been playing hide-and-seek
with us, for no other reason than to satisfy her womanish
vanity, by showing how uncomfortable she could make
three grave and responsible men. Let the boat
go, Master Tiller, since that is thy name; and many
thanks for thy civilities.”
“Twould give grave offence to
leave the lady, without knowing all she has to say.
The answer now concerns you, worthy Alderman; and the
rattan will do its turn, in your hand, as well as
in that of another.”
“I despise a pitiful curiosity,
and content myself with knowing what chance and good
luck teach,” returned Myndert. “There
are men in Manhattan ever prying into their neighbors’
credit, like frogs lying with their noses out of water;
but it is enough for me to know the state of my books,
with some insight into that of the market.”
“It will not do. This
may appease a quiet conscience, like your own, Sir;
but we of the brigantine may not trifle with our mistress.
One touch of the rattan will tell you, whether these
visits to the Water Witch are likely to prove to your
advantage.”
Myndert wavered. It has been
said, that, like most others of his origin in the
colony, he had a secret leaning to the art of divination:
and the words of the hero of the shawl contained a
flattering allusion to the profits of his secret commerce.
He took the offered stick, and, by the time the page
was turned, his eyes were ready enough to consult its
contents. There was but a line, which was also
quoted as coming from the well-known comedy of ‘Measure
for Measure.’
“Proclaim it, Provost,
round about the city.”
In his eagerness Myndert read the
oracle aloud, and then he sunk into his seat, affecting
to laugh at the whole as a childish and vain conceit.
“Proclamation, me, no proclamations!
Is it a time of hostilities, or of public danger,
that one should go shouting with his tidings through
the streets? Measure for Measure, truly!
Harkee, Master Tiller, this sea-green trull of thine
is no better than she should be; and unless she mends
her manner of dealing, no honest man will be found
willing to be seen in her company. I am no believer
in necromancy though the inlet has certainly
opened this year, altogether in an unusual manner and
therefore I put little faith in her words; but as
for saying aught of me or mine, in town or country,
Holland or America, that can shake my credit, why I
defy her! Still, I would not willingly have any
idle stories to contradict; and I shall conclude by
saying, you will do well to stop her mouth.”
“Stop a hurricane, or a tornado!
Truth will come in her book, and he that reads must
expect to see it Captain Ludlow, you are
master of your movements, again; for the inlet is
no longer between you and your cruiser. Behind
yon hillock is the boat and crew you missed. The
latter expect you. And now, gentlemen, we leave
the rest to the green lady’s guidance, our own
good skill, and the winds! I salute you.”
The moment his companions were on
the shore, the hero of the shawl caused his boat to
quit it; and in less than five minutes it was seen
swinging, by its tackles, at the stern of the brigantine.